LEGACY Leg"a*cy, n.; pl.Legacies. Etym: [L. (assumed) legatia, for legatum, from legare to appoint by last will, to bequeath as a legacy, to depute: cf. OF. legat legacy. See Legate.]
1. A gift of property by will, esp. of money or personal property; a bequest. Also Fig.; as, a legacy of dishonor or disease.
2. A business with which one is intrusted by another; a commission; - - obsolete, except in the phrases last legacy, dying legacy, and the like. My legacy and message wherefore I am sent into the world. Tyndale. He came and told his legacy. Chapman. Legacy duty, a tax paid to government on legacies. Wharton. — Legacy hunter, one who flatters and courts any one for the sake of a legacy.
LEGAL Le"gal, a. Etym: [L. legalis, fr. lex, legis, law; prob. orig., that which lies or is fixed (cf. L. lectus bed), and if so akin to E. lie, law: cf. F. légal. Cf. Lie to be prostrate, Loyal, Leal.]
1. Created by, permitted by, in conformity with, or relating to, law; as, a legal obligation; a legal standard or test; a legal procedure; a legal claim; a legal trade; anything is legal which the laws do not forbid.
2. (Theol.) (a) According to the law of works, as distinguished from free grace; or resting on works for salvation. (b) According to the old or Mosaic dispensation; in accordance with the law of Moses
3. (Law)
Defn: Governed by the rules of law as distinguished from the rules of equity; as, legal estate; legal assets. Bouvier. Burrill. Legal cap. See under Cap. — Legal tender. (a) The act of tendering in the performance of a contract or satisfaction of a claim that which the law prescribes or permits, and at such time and place as the law prescribes or permits. (b) That currency, or money, which the law authorizes a debtor to tender and requires a creditor to receive. It differs in different countries.
Syn.
— Lawful; constitutional; legitimate; licit; authorized. See
Lawful.
LEGALISM
Le"gal*ism, n.